Printmakers: Hidden Treasures
Friday, February 5, 2016

A group of chapter members joined with the Washington Print Club to visit  Georgetown University’s Charles Marvin Fairchild Memorial Gallery & Special Collections Gallery to see the exhibit Undiscovered Printmakers: Hidden Treasures at Georgetown University Library.

Georgetown University Library was awarded a Hidden Collections grant from The
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Council on Library and Information
Resources (CLIR) to catalog the personal collections of six significant 20th-century
American printmakers: Helen King Boyer, Louise Miller Boyer, John De Pol, Marguerite Kumm, Kathleen Spagnolo and Lynd Ward.

The Undiscovered Printmakers cataloging project uncovered exciting new evidence about the artists’ working methods, illuminating the exploration of ideas and technical  experimentation behind their finished works. This exhibition reveals the wide range of artistic media produced by these six graphic artists, from preliminary sketches, original illustrations, trial proofs, book mock-ups and finished prints, to the tools used to create them.

The group gathered before the formal talk started. On the left Chris Manson, George Barnum, and Mark Samuels Lasner have a conversation

 Katharine Malcolm, Art Collection Project Coordinator (with papers), and the group taking an opportunity for a closeup view.

Katharine Malcolm providing the well researched talk explaining the contents and background to the works included in the exhibition.

Lauren Emeritz looking over the John DePol component of the exhibition.

Chris Sweterlitsch, Jill Cypher, and Mark Samuels Lasner.

Dennis —, Casey Smith, George Barnum, and Chris Manson.

 Chris Sweterlitsch and John Buchtel, Head of Special Collections at Georgetown University.

 John Buchtel and Christen Runge, Assistant Art Curator, showing a few special items from their collection.

A rejected woodengraving. Whatever it was rejected for wasn’t at all apparent looking at it.

After we finished the tour, a group gathered for an informal lunch.

At lunch, Chris Manson discusses Chesapeake Chapter lettrpress printing with Chris Fritton, The Itinerant Printer, who was visiting Lead Graffiti and joined in on the Georgetown University visit.